Over the course of about five hours Wednesday afternoon, Tucson area Border Patrol agents found five Mexican nationals inside vehicle trunks in apparent smuggling attempts.
The busts came as Wednesday’s temperature tied the record of 109 degrees.
“Smuggling a person inside the trunk of a car is extremely dangerous, a risk amplified during summertime conditions,” the Border Patrol said in the news release.
A Border Patrol dog at the Interstate 19 checkpoint near Tubac alerted to a brown Cadillac during an inspection at 2:20 p.m. Inside the vehicle’s trunk, agents found two Mexican nationals, including one who was injured during an illegal border-crossing attempt near Nogales, the Border Patrol said in a news release Thursday.
Around 5 p.m., a vehicle fled a Border Patrol checkpoint on Arizona 85 near Ajo, losing a tire in the process. Agents found the vehicle, which the driver had abandoned with two Mexican nationals locked in the trunk. The driver has not yet been found.
Two hours later, agents found a Mexican national locked in the trunk of a vehicle after a canine working at the checkpoint on State Road 80 near Tombstone alerted to the vehicle. Both the driver and passenger were arrested.
